Furnace and allied structure.



U. WEDGE.

FURNACE AND ALLIED STRUCTURE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 4. 1914.

1,1 59,141 Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WITNESSES ME A lNVENTbR UTLEY WEDGE BY ms 'ATTORNEL'E;

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0.. WASHINGTON, D c.

U. WEDGE.

FURNACE AND ALLIED STRUCTURE.

, APPLICATION FILED MAR. 4. 1914.

1,159,141 Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR UTLEY WEDGE BY HIS ATTORNEY COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH CQAVASHINOTON, D. C. v

srns I ran A UTLEY" WEDGE, or ARDIVIORE, PENNSYLVANIA.

FURNACE AND ALLIED STRUCTURE.

T0 (ZZZ whom it may concern: V 7

Be it known that I, UTLEY VEDGE, acitizen of the United States, residing in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Furnaces and Allied Structures, of which the following is a'specification.

for Letters Patent filed February 11th, 191 1,

Serial No. 818,049, the main-purposes of my present invention being to relieve the parts above the furnace or allied'structure from' theweight of the rotating annular hearth and rabble carrying structure and its load,

to insure steady movement of said structure,

and to minimize the strainv upon the same.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1' is aview, partly in side elevation and partly in section, of one half of a furnace con structed in accordance with my nvention, Fig. 2 is atop or plan view of one quarter of the furnace; Fig. 3 is a side elevation, on

a larger scale than Fig.1, of oneof the sections of the rotating annular hearth and rabble carrier and of'the supporting and driving mechanism therefor, and Fig. 4: is aplan view of one section of the furnace illustrating a modified means for supporting and driving the rotating annular hearth and rabble carrier.

The furnace has fixed annular walls 1 and l 2 ofsuch relative'diameter as to contain between them a furnacechamber 3 of the desired capacity, this furnace chamber containing a series of superposed annular hearths, some of which (represented at Lin the drawing.) are fixedly mounted in the walls 1 and 2 and either project inwardly from the outer Wall 1 or outwardly from the inner wall 2, while others (indicated at 5 in the drawing) alternate with and lap said hearths 4:, these hearths 5 being mounted upon a rotatable, annular drum, shell, or

structure of the furnace, as shown in Fig. 2. The fixed and rotating annular hearths are intended to be provided on their under sides with rabbles for stirring and feeding Specification of "Letters Patent.

My present invention is a modification of r that forming the subject of'my-application V The spider 7 is free'to turn about an axis which is concentric with the annular the ore or other materialon the hearth beneath, but in order to prevent confusion, the

Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

Application filed March 4,1914. Serial No. 822,346.

with a pair of trucks 8 disposed beneath the Y same and each having bearings for the axles of a pair of wheels 9 which run upon an an-. nular rail 10 mounted upon the base or floor of the furnace chamber, a nd'thus serve to support the annular structure 6 andits;

load, and relieve the spider 7 from the per formance iof'this duty. While thefrotatio n of the structurefi may, as in the furnace ofv 7 my former appli'cation,be 'eifectedbyro tating the spider 7, I prefer to elfect's uchf f rotation independently of the spider, and thus relieve the latter also'ffrom the driving strain; In ,order to efiect this result the wheels of eitheror both of the trucks 8 may 2 have rotative movement imparted to them sof as to travel'along the rail '10 and carry the structure '6 "with them. "In 1 the furnace. shown 1n the drawing I haveillu'stratedithe application of'power to the wheels ofcnly v V oneof the trucks, the axle of each wl1 e'el'ha,v-

ingfixedly mountedupon it a chain wheel 11 which recelvesa drive chain 12 running there? from to a chain wheel 13 carried by a 'shaftj j 14:, mounted so as to be free to turn in suit-T ablebearing's on .the spider 7 and rotated through the medium of any appropriate train of gearing from an electric or other motor 15 mounted upon aplate16, or'other'.

support,carried by said spider 7 By-a-pplying driving powerto each sec-P tion of the rotating annular structure 6,

steady movementof the same is insured, the: strains are distributedthroughout the structure, and the power units are of moderate size, and, by supporting the rotating annular structure frombelow, the weight o'f'thesame and of its load are removed from the spider; 7' andthe latter can be of simpler and lighter: construction than when the rotating annular" structure suspended fromit, asin the furnace of my former application. v

The advantage of using small power units and applying the ,drivingflpowerjto-the rotating annular structure at different points throughout the same can,;however', be at:

tained infurnaces in which said rotating annular structure is not supportedfrombelow. For instance, in Fig. 4 I have shown one section of a furnace 1n which the shaft 14 has fixedly mounted at its outer end a wheel 20 running upon a track 21 on the outer wall 1, a wheel 22, mounted so as to rotate freely on the shaft 14, running upon a rail 23 on the inner wall 2, both wheels thus serving to support a section of the structure 6 and the wheel 20 also serving to rotate the same.

WVhile the motive power for each truck might be mounted upon the same, it is preferable to mount the motor and the primary membersof the gearing above the furnace where they will be easily accessible and away from the hot and dusty conditions likely to prevail at the bottomof the furnace. The trucks, wheels and gearing located at the bottom'of the furnace may, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, be protected from the heat and dust by means of a shield or cover of some material which is a non-conductor or a poor conductor of heat.

'I claim 1. The combination, in a furnace, of inner and outer fixed annular structures, the innor having annular hearths 'projectingout- Wardly therefrom and the outer having an nular hearths projecting inwardly therefrom, and an intermediate rotating annular structure supported from below and having annular hearths projecting in'both directions therefrom, the inwardly projecting hearths lapping those of the inner fixed structure and the outwardly projecting hearths lapping those of the outer fixed structure.

2. The combination, in a furnace, of inner and outer fixed annular structures, each having a series of superposed annular hearths projecting therefrom, those of the ,inner structure projecting outwardly and those of the outer structure projecting in wardly, and an interposed rotating annular structure supported from below and having on each side of thesame a superposed series of annular projecting hearths those on the inner side lapping corresponding hearths of the inner fixed structure and those on the outer side lapping corresponding hearths of the outer fixed structure.

3. The combination, in a furnace, .of a fixed annular structure having an annular hearth projecting therefrom, a rotating annular structure supported from below and having an annular hearth projecting therefrom in a direction the reverse of that of the fixed annular structure and overlapping said fixed hearth, a rotating structure located above said hearth carrying structures and having an axial pivot, driving mechanism mounted upon said upper structure, and means whereby power is transmitted from said driving mechanism to the supporting devices for the rotating annular hearth carrying structure.

4. The combination, in a "furnace, of a superposed annular fixed annular structure having a series of V hearths projecting therefrom, a rotating annular structure supported from below and having a series of superposed annular hearths projecting therefrom in a direction the reverse of those of the fixed annular hearths so as to overlap the latter, a rotating structure disposed above said hearth carrying structures and having an axial pivot, driving mechanism mounted upon said upper structure, and gearing for connecting said driving mechanism to the supporting devices for the rotating annular hearth carrying structure.

5. The combination, in a furnace, of inner and outer fixed annular structures, the inner having annular hearths projecting outwardly therefrom and the outer having annular hearths projecting inwardly therefrom an intermediate rotating annular structure supported from below and having annular hearths projecting in both directions therefrom, the inwardly projecting hearths lapping those of the inner fixed 'structi re and the outer projecting hearths lapping those of the outer fixed structure, and means carried by said rotating annular structure for rotating the same.

6. The combination, in a furnace, of inner and outer fixed annular structures, each having a series of superposed annular hearths projecting therefrom, those of the inner structure projecting outwardly and those of the outer structure projecting inwardly, an interposed rotating annular structure supported from below and hav ing on each side of the same a superposed series of annular projecting hearths those on the inner side lapping corresponding hearths of the inner fixed structure and those on the outer side lapping corresponding hearths of the outer fixed structure, and means carried by said rotating annular structure for rotating the same.

7. The combination, in a furnace, of a fixed annular structure having annular hearths projecting therefrom, a rotating annular structure having annular hearths projecting therefrom and lapping those of the fixed structure, a wheeled support for said rotating annular structure located below the same, and means located above the furnace .for driving said wheeled support.

ing annular hearths projecting therefrom,

those of one structure lapping those of the the rotating annular structure being composed of a series of sections, and independent supporting and drivlng devices for each of sald sectlons.

11. The combination, in a furnace, of

fixed and rotating annular structures, annular hearths projecting from each of said structures, the hearths of one structure lapping those of the other, a spider for bracing and stiffening said rotating annular structure, and means for supporting saidstructure independently of the spider.

12. The combination, in a furnace, of

fixed and rotating annular structures, an-

nular hearths projecting from said struc tures, and those of one hearth lapping those of the other, a spider for bracing and stiffening said rotating annular structure, and 7 means for supporting and rotating said structure independently of the spider.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my 7 name to this specification, in the presence of two subscriblng Witnesses.

V V UTLEY WEDGE.

Witnesses:

, KATE A. BEADLE,

HAMILTON .D'. TURNER,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

